Blue Carbon at COP21

‘Blue carbon’ continues to herald nature-based solutions to climate change through recent recognition in policy and management and will be profiled at a number of events during the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties in Paris, France 30 Nov – 11 Dec 2015 (COP 21). These are detailed through the following list and on a Blue Carbon at COP21 information brief available here (click to download):

Blue Carbon Related Events at COP21

Monday, 30 November, 17:45 – 18:45

Wetland Carbon Sequestration as a Mitigation Tool

VENUE: The U.S. Center

EVENT ORGANIZERS: U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Conservation International

Wednesday, 2 December, 10:00 – 11:30

Blue Carbon Roundtable Discussion

VENUE: IUCN Pavilion, Blue Zone, Hall 3, Le Bourget

EVENT ORGANIZERS: Australian Government with the Blue Carbon Initiative (Conservation International, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and IOC-UNESCO [By Invitation only, for more information contact Dorothee Herr, Dorothee.HERR@iucn.org]

Wednesday, 2 December, 11:30 – 13:00

One Ocean, One Climate, One UN: Working Together for a Healthy and Resilient Ocean

Dominican RepublicBlue Carbon NAMA – the worlds first ‘blue carbon’ Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) submitted to the UNFCCC (facilitated by Counterpart International), with the objective of enabling national climate mitigation through the conservation and restoration of mangroves, and includes capacity-building, technical assistance, and financing and sustainability activities (see: NS-189). It will be profiled at the Moving to Implementation side event on Tuesday, 8 December, 11:45 – 13:15.

Mikoko Pamoja – the world’s first working community-based payments for mangrove carbon–offset project. Located in Gazi Bay, Kenya, and verified by Plan Vivo, it involves community-based policing of illegal mangrove harvesting, as well as the application of local expertise in mangrove planting. Mikoko Pamoja is being replicated and up-scaled through the UNEP/GEF Blue Forests Project and will be profiled by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute at the Moving to Implementation side event on Tuesday, 8 December, 11:45 – 13:15.

Coastal Blue Carbon Counter is a joint project with TNC’s Mapping Ocean Wealth Project, IUCN and GRID-Arendal. The IUCN pavilion at COP will have the counter displayed during key oceans and blue carbon events. The counter is meant to help highlight how much carbon is being sequestered by these coastal ecosystems at a relatively rapid pace, and thus why leaving them intact is so crucial to combating climate change.

European Marine Board report ‘Delving Deeper: Critical challenges for 21st century deep-sea research’ estimates carbon sequestration value of deep-sea fish between 500m to 1,800m on the continental slope of the UK and Ireland to be valued at a maximum of €231 million and recommends that “the trade-off between capture of deep-slope species by fisheries should be considered in the context of removal of the capacity for these fish to sequester carbon.”

Just Blue It report by the UNEP/GEF Blue Forests Project explores how blue carbon has been applied in recent policy and management and can to help meet the UN Global Goals on Sustainable Development. Content will be discussed at Blue Guardians – Monday, 7 December, 2015, 12:00 – 15:30 and is expected to be launched in early 2016.

Draft Policy Recommendations on Oceans and Climate authored by the International Working Group on Oceans and Climate and coordinated by the Global Ocean Commission, this document highlights blue carbon though recommendations for the conservation of blue carbon ecosystems and integration of blue carbon into climate financing processes and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). It will be discussed at Oceans Day at COP 21, 4 December, 10:30 – 18:30.

UNEP/GEF Blue Forests Project – a global initiative aiming to demonstrate how coastal and marine carbon and other ecosystem values can be harnessed to achieve the long-term protection of blue carbon ecosystems. The project includes sites in Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Thailand, Kenya, Ecuador and the United Arab Emirates and will provide experience and tools for greater global replication. The Blue Forests Project is implemented by UNEP and executed by GRID-Arendal.